Tagged: Jim Duggan

Yes, you could argue about the historical veracity of the WWE’s Hall of Fame. No Lou Thesz. No Jim Londos. No Ed “Strangler” Lewis.

But Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Vince McMahon, Sr.’s driver, James Dudley, have gotten the nod.

Those arguments aside, within the WWE’s own history book, until recently no names were bigger omissions in the hall than Bruno Sammartino and Randy “Macho Man” Savage. Sammartino finally got his due in 2013 after Triple H personally interceded to break the deadlock between Bruno and Vince McMahon, Jr.

And now, nearly four years after his death, the WWE will induct Savage.

Sammartino long resisted overtures into the Hall of Fame, and Savage also indicated he was against going in unless Continue reading →

While 1988 wasn’t the year of the first Royal Rumble (the little-known original version was a flop in 1987), the ’88 Rumble was the first one nationally broadcast. It was a free show on the USA Network, which was great news for wrestling fans, but in reality the move to make it free was an assault against the NWA and Jim Crockett Promotions (which later morphed into WCW).

The story starts in 1987, when Crockett and Vince McMahon both promoted pay-per-views on Thanksgiving night (the first Survivor Series and Starrcade ’87). McMahon made a power play Continue reading →

The WWF Slammy Awards were silly when they started back in 1986, and the modern WWE version is just as bad.

Yet there was the Slammy Awards show on Monday Night Raw this week — it just doesn’t seem like the best gimmick to fall back on when so many fans are clamoring for change.

I remember the 1987 Slammy Awards well. The show was notable because Vince McMahon gave a beyond arrogant, and fully embarrassing, performance singing his tune, “Stand Back.” When I see McMahon dancing in this clip, I’m amazed at what is allowed on TV: Continue reading →

But he also transcended wrestling. His Slim Jim commercials, appearance in the 2002 Spider-Man movie with Tobey Maguire, and being named the Harvard Lampoon’s spoof Real Man of the Year in 1998 all point to his pop culture grip on people. The fact that his death briefly garnered front page news on most of the major news and sports websites was testament to how well people remembered him.

No Bruno Sammartino. No Randy “Macho Man” Savage. But yes, the WWE has room for Duggan.

Don’t get me wrong – Duggan had a unique charisma in the 1980s that far outstretched his limited ring skills. He played the patriotism card perfectly, carrying his 2×4 and American flag as a defender of the United States against the likes of Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik. He was different than Sgt. Slaughter and a huge improvement over Corporal Kirchner.

I’ve always loved reading the Wrestling Observer (I got hooked on it after being a fan of Dave Meltzer’s pro wrestling columns in the old National sports newspaper). An issue of the Observer this month gave me yet another reason to like it: The discussion of the first Royal Rumble, which I knew nothing about.

I was floored to read about it, because I consider myself pretty aware of WWF history from the 1980s. I, like many of you who were fans back then, remember that the first Royal Rumble was on the USA Network in 1988, which Hacksaw Jim Duggan won. Well, at least that’s what I thought history had written.